The Japanese bullet trains

For years now, the world’s fastest trains, operating in Japan and France, have been stuck at a maximum operating speed of around three hundred kilometers an hour — in fact the latest Japanese bullet trains travel a bit slower than their predecessors, the emphasis of the designers being more on smoothness and economy.  Now JR East, the country’s largest railway company, has unveiled a much faster train, capable of sustained speed of around 360 kilometers an hour.
   The new train, which has been displayed in a dazzling teal color, looks very similar to the streamlined models already running on Japan’s high-speed railways, except for one unusual feature — extra emergency  brakes in the form of cat’s ears — this, a response to the derailment of a bullet train after an earthquake last year.